Through its State R3 Program Grants, the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF) has awarded funds to 10 programs in nine states. Now in its ninth year, the State R3 Program Grants’ goal is to support state recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) initiatives to increase fishing and boating participation.
RBFF is providing approximately $207,000 in grants this year with nine state agencies contributing an additional $232,000 in project funds and in-kind support.
The programs must focus on one of three areas:
- Communicate the relevance of fishing and/or boating to urban, multicultural audiences to increase participation
- Implement angler and/or boater customer engagement strategies to retain and/or reactivate anglers and boaters to increase participation
- Enhance the capability of agencies to develop and implement effective angler and/or boater recruitment, retention and reactivation efforts
"We’re proud to support these state fish and wildlife agencies in their R3 efforts,” said Stephanie Hussey, RBFF’s Senior Director of Government Engagement. “Their programs help attract and keep a diverse group of Americans on the water.” The State R3 Program Grants fund sustainable and replicable angler and boater R3 initiatives and plans that focus on increasing fishing license sales and boat registrations to help increase fishing and boating participation. Proposals are reviewed and selected by RBFF staff and a Proposal Review Working Group made up of industry, federal agency and NGO representatives.
The 2023 grantees include:
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
- Fishing Perspectives in the Hispanic Community
Iowa Department of Natural Resources
- Building Social Support Communities for Iowa’s Female Recreational Paddlers to Go Fishing
Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks
- Hispanic Anglers Digital Marketing Campaign
Maryland Department of Natural Resources
- Welcome to Boating and Fishing!
Nevada Department of Wildlife
- Kids Fish Free @ First Catch Events
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
- Digital Marketing for R3 Microsite
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
- Boater Reactivation and R3 Campaign
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
- Retention of Female Anglers – with special focus on Hispanic Women
- Text Messages to Lapsed Year from Purchase Anglers
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
- Utah R3 Underserved Communities Marketing Campaign
The State R3 Program Grants are partially funded by RBFF through a USFWS financial assistance award (#F18AC00145).
